Before entering my weekly training, I wanted to talk about the USATF club cross country championships, in which I competed as part of the BAA men's team this past weekend in Charlotte, NC. Big thanks to BAA for taking us to the the race and USATF for putting a big field together. Also, big thanks to our team coaches Mike Pieroni and Terry Shea for taking good care of us there and Suzanne Walmsley for a lot of the behind the scenes work.In past years, this event has been up and down in terms of competition, but this year it was really tough up front, which makes it even more special because we finished 3rd! According tothis press release from the team website, it was the best ever team finish on the men's side. What's even more impressive is that this was a very young team, Luke is the "oldest" and he is in his mid 20's. As Mike Pieroni said in his pre-race speech, "we are young and hungry". It was great not only to be part of the team to medal at the USATF meet but also most important to be a team from New England. I think it's time to bring the competitiveness of the late 1970's/80's to when New England was the hub of US distance running. I feel that there is a lot of potential here, great people, excellent places to train and many competitions to choose from. What we need to do is just stick together and make things happen. Always keep things in perspective and know not to set limits on anything. As my friend and teammate Tim Ritchie told me after Mayors Cup..."we can run with anyone at this level". If we stick together we sure can make the jumps many others have made in the past. This past weekend was just a small step but a giant leap for what's to come in the future....